Metro Prepares for Hurricane Irene

Metro is preparing for the flooding and wind damage that may accompany the weekend arrival of Hurricane Irene.

The agency says it is calling in additional support personnel, who will be “on duty throughout the weekend to respond to any situations that may arise.”

WMATA is supplying chain saws to Metro drivers, “for use in the event of downed trees.” Metrobuses and MetroAccess vehicles may be detoured around fallen trees and flooded areas, as necessary. Metro is also checking all drainage pumps and clearing out debris from drainage areas near Metro stations.

“Supervisors will monitor critical locations, such as bus garages, parking garages, and flood-prone areas throughout the weekend,” Metro said in a press release.

Metro has placed more than 2,000 sandbags around the escalators of Metrorail stations that have a history of flooding, including the Foggy Bottom and King Street stations. None of the listed stations are in Arlington.

“We’re putting all of our resources in place to address any issues that arise out of the extreme weather conditions this weekend,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles. “We will be updating our customers through our website, Twitter, email alerts and the media.”

What if we consider the stink bug the modern day locust? May need to search for an Arlington chruch and prepare for some nasty New Testament disaster.

KalashniKEV

NoVA is still part of the real world. Snap out of it. Get prepared. Start contingency planning now. The government isn’t going to help you.

Calabria

Oh, I apologize! I guess that everybody in the real world deals with both earthquakes and hurricanes in a one week time period (especially people living near inactive fault lines). I must have missed that when I grew up, just like I missed the part where we were taught that people should be crass at others for marveling at natural disasters!

I don’t know what I said in my comment that made you able to infer that: 1.) I was going to rely on the government for help OR 2.) I had no contingency plans in place. But I can assure you that I’ve been ready since the middle of the week. Cheers!

Me ke

@ Calabria three disasters –metro drivers with chain saws…bad enough some of these folks already have steering wheel in their hands